


Free to Good Home

by theskywasblue



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Drabble, First Meetings, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-22
Updated: 2010-06-22
Packaged: 2017-10-10 05:31:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/96120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theskywasblue/pseuds/theskywasblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kougaiji takes in a stray.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Free to Good Home

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt "Random words - Steel, Bargain, Joke, Beginners, Memory". Time take to write: ~21 minutes.

_He looks like a stray dog._

Filthy clothes, oily, unkempt hair, face dark with stubble.  Kougaiji cannot imagine how he managed to all but beat the life out of Xiang, who was supposed to be his stepmother’s personal bodyguard.  He barely looks like he has the strength to lift his head, let alone throw a decent punch.

_Beginners luck_, he thinks.  But then, perhaps not.  There is a certain potential to him – broad shoulders, a strong back – but he is skinny, far too skinny; his clothes hang off him and Kougaiji can see clearly the sharp jut of his shoulder blades, the line of his ribs.  He probably hasn’t had a good meal in months.

Kougaiji knew he was expected to execute the man, largely out of duty and precedent.  Although, as some measure of consolation, he’s sure Xiang – who no doubt started the fight, as he always does, though he would never have expected to lose – will meet a similar fate; and Gyokumen Koushu will make it far more painful, far less dignified. 

Somehow, though, it seems a shame.  He looks a little like he’s already on the edge of death; or perhaps like he wants to be there.

“Do you value your life?” 

It’s the usual question.  In situations such as these, men have a tendency to want to make a bargain; and Kougaiji prides himself on always giving them the opportunity to feel like they can, even if his mind is already made up.

The man lifts his head, fixes Kougaiji with steel-blue eyes.  For a moment a shadow passes behind them, as if something about the prince tickles at the edges of his memory, but it vanishes quickly.  The gaze strikes straight to Kougaiji’s heart.  He has never seen a man so _broken_.

“Why would I?” his voice is rough, desperately tired, “It isn’t worth anything.” 

“Then you won’t have any trouble giving it to me.”

Kougaiji is fairly sure of himself in this.  He never has executed a man at his stepmother’s will.  Usually, he lets them walk away.  But he knows, if he does let this one walk away, for whatever reason, he will only find someone else to hand him death.  Or he might just lie down and wait for it to come to him. 

The man looks at him like he thinks Kougaiji is making some kind of joke, one he doesn’t find particularly funny.  He finally says, “What?” 

Kougaiji sighs.  “If your life isn’t worth anything, then obviously you don’t need it.  Give it to me; then at least it can be put to some use.” 

The man actually cracks a smile.  That single gesture seems to strip away a dozen years from his face.  His grin is boyish and his eyes shine.  “Sure.  It’s not much…hell, it’s not _anything_, but…sure.  You can have it.” 

He’s not sure exactly what he’s getting himself into, but as he turns away and the man rises and falls into step behind him, he thinks it’s not a bad deal, for something completely free.

-End-


End file.
